Hidden Tears
by Starnaon Aren
Summary: Ai Haibara accidentally takes the pill that will make her stay as a little kid forever. What will Conan do? Chapter 3 is up! ShinichiShiho
1. A strange drink

Hidden Tears

Pairings: Ai/Conan, Shinichi/Shiho

Summary: Ai Haibara accidentally takes the pill that will make her stay as a little kid forever. What will Conan do? (Shinichi/Shiho)

Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan. This is my first fanfic so please be nice…

Chapter 1 – A strange drink

A black car was waiting outside in the dark. They were inside the car, but no one spoke until a small grin appeared on a man's face.

"Tonight, you'll pay for what you have done… Sherry."

-

"WHAT?" A young boy named Conan was so shocked by the news.

"What is it Conan?" Ran came into his room looking worried.

"It's nothing. Professor Agasa has invented another cool watch." He managed to reply.

"Oh, okay." His first crush closed the door.

As soon as the door was shut, Conan started to talk on the phone again.

"Is it true?"

"Yes Shinichi. Ai has just finished making the antidote for APTX 4869."

Conan couldn't believe his ears. He felt like he was dreaming right now.

"I'll be there right now." Without listening to Professor Agasa's reply, he hung up and went outside. The warm summer air faced him. The sun was nearly gone and the sky was turning to a dark blue colour every second. He didn't feel tired at all while running, but only excitement was on his mind. Maybe tonight, he'll be back to who he really was…

"I'm here!" Waiting for few moments to catch his breath, Conan then went to the living room where Professor Agasa and Haibara were.

"Ah, Shinichi, you're here," Professor Agasa greeted him while Haibara was typing something fast on the computer. A small boy ran towards her and grinned.

"You look stupid," was what Haibara said who was still concentrating on the computer screen.

"Doesn't matter. Anyways I can't believe that I'll be back to Shinichi soon."

Without a word, Haibara grabbed the tablet that was placed next to the computer. She then handed it to him.

"Here."

"You made lots of them?" Conan noticed many tablets in a glass jar.

"Yeah, just in case of…"

"In case of what?" He looked confused.

"Nothing. Just in case someone else takes APTX 4869 later. I have a bad feeling."

"Don't worry. The Organisation will be destroyed before anyone else could take it."

'How come you're so sure about that…'

He looked at Haibara. She was still looking cold and showed no expression at all. He wondered if she would be like this even when she goes back to her original form.

"By the way, what's your real name?"

"… Shiho. Miyano Shiho."

"That's a pretty name."

"I know you're saying that just to cheer me up, Kudo."

He sweatdropped. "No. I really mean it."

"…"

"I'll get some drinks." Professor Agasa left the living room. There was a long silence.

"So, when are we going to try out the antidote?"

Haibara raised her eyebrows facing him. "What do you mean, _we_?"

"Aren't you gonna take the antidote?"

"You want me to go back to an eighty-four-year-old granny?"

Conan stepped one step backward. "May…maybe not."

Haibara smirked. "I'm staying as Ai Haibara."

"What? You must be kidding, Haibara."

"I don't lie or joke."

"But… why?"

"Because," there was a pause, "I don't need to anyway. No one will be waiting for me even when I become my real self, except the Organisation. So, what's the point?"

"Remember Haibara, I'll make sure that no one, not even the Organisation will lay a finger on you."

She didn't believe him. Haibara now had a trust on nobody. She knew that Conan's promise would break soon, just like the Organisation broke the promise of her sister.

"_Always be yourself, Shiho. Don't be afraid of others around you." _Was what her sister used to say.

'Being myself…' She thought. Haibara was actually hiding from the Black Organisation right now and relying on the boy who was in a same position as her.

"Haibara?" It was Conan's voice.

"Huh? What?"

"Promise me that you'll go back to Shiho."

-

Conan and Haibara decided to have a last meeting with their young friends, the Detective Boys. Professor Agasa was the person who came up with this idea.

"We're going to a restaurant?" Genta was excited, yet miserable to hear that this was the last time to see Conan and Haibara. Ayumi, who was sitting next to Conan on the car, didn't say a single word ever since she heard the news. Mitsuhiko also had a disappointed expression written on his face.

"Hey, let's enjoy tonight so today could be a day to remember." Conan said this, but he wasn't cheerful as before. He thought he was going to miss being a little kid. Maybe Haibara was thinking the same thing. She was remembering the times when they all solved many mysteries, and played together.

'At first, I thought they were annoying, but now… They're my _friends_…'

Soon they arrived at the restaurant called 'The Apple Tree'. Conan saw Ran and Kogoro waiting inside.

'Ran, I'll be there for you again, as Shinichi…' But his eyes soon were on a black car, which has stopped next to the restaurant. 'Strange…' He thought. 'Why is that black car over there?'

"Conan?" Ayumi called his name quietly. Her eyes were focusing on the ground.

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you going in?" Rest of them was already at the front door.

"Okay, let's go." He said and held Ayumi's hand gently and walked towards the door.

She blushed slightly as they walked together.

"Don't you think they make a cute couple?" Ran smiled as she saw Conan and Ayumi entering the restaurant.

"Heh, they're just kids." Kogoro said without thinking. He was busy looking at the menu.

'Shinichi and I used to be like that…' She thought sadly and gave out a small sigh.

Soon, everyone sat down on a large round table. The restaurant was the most famous one in Tokyo. The food couldn't have been better and they had many conversations. No one seemed to be sad at all during that evening.

"Noodles!" Genta and Mitsuhiko shouted and started to eat fast. Everyone laughed.

But Conan noticed Haibara didn't look well. Her face was quite pale as she coughed a few times.

"Ai-chan, are you okay?" Ayumi asked before he could.

"Yeah."

"You don't look good." It was Ran.

"I'm okay. Just tired."

"I think you've got a cold." Her expression showed that Ran was really concerned. She called the waitress and ordered a hot chocolate, not knowing they were being watched.

Meanwhile, inside the black car, few men were watching the whole scene on the screen.

"I'm okay. Just tired."

"I think you've got a cold."

Haibara and Ran's voice was what they were hearing.

"Excuse me, but can I order a hot chocolate for this girl?" Ran was pointing at Haibara.

Gin smirked again. He quietly murmured something and soon two men came out from the car and went inside the restaurant.

-

"Here is the hot chocolate." The waitress had brought the hot chocolate, which was in a white cup.

"Thank you." Haibara said quietly and coughed again.

Conan looked inside the cup she was holding. The hot chocolate didn't have a dark brown colour, but instead had a bit lighter than the original colour.

Haibara took a slip.

"What does it taste like?" Conan asked desperately.

She looked at him in a weird way. "You never had a hot chocolate?"

"No, that's not what I meant. Look at the colour." He pointed at the hot chocolate.

"It not a dark brown colour." Conan said.

"I don't think there is any problem. This hot chocolate tastes normal."

'Maybe it's just this restaurant's unique style.'

It was hard for both Conan and Haibara to say goodbye to their friends. Two teenagers knew that they would see the Detective Boys, Ran and her father again, but others will never see Conan and Haibara at all. Especially Ayumi and Ran were crying before leaving.

"Take care of yourself, Conan and Haibara. Okay?"

Both if them nodded in reply.

"You'll visit us soon, won't you?" Ayumi was still crying.

"I'll try." Conan said but wasn't sure about it. "Bye, everyone…"

After arriving at Professor's house, they took one tablets each and went to a separate room. Conan changed his clothes.

'Will this antidote work?'

He was feeling nervous while he swallowed the tablet and soon was unconscious.

Haibara was ready to be Shiho again. She looked outside of the window. It was raining and the raindrops were hitting the glass very gently. But she felt dizzy and ill.

'Well, this is it…'

End of chapter 1-

A/N: How was it? I know it was bad… OTL … If you have any ideas for this story, please email me. Thank you for reading!


	2. Success and failure

Hidden Tears

A/N: Hi! Thank you all for reading my first chapter although it wasn't good. I would like to thank especially Crystal Snowflakes, xeno, sacred-aliance, anime-obsession260, hannah-asakura, Ai-Chan Haibara-San for their kind reviews. I'll try and make less grammar mistakes this time. XD

:) **_Thanks to –_**

**Crystal Snowflakes**: Thank you so much for leaving a review. I hope chapter 2 is a little better than the last one.

**xeno**: Thank you so much for your review. I'm glad that this fic is interesting to you.

**sacred-aliance: **Wow, thank you so much for reviewing. I'll study hard to write a better story someday.

**anime-obsession260: **Thanks so much for your review. I hope you've enjoyed the last chapter.

**hannah-asakura : **Thanks so much for reviewing! Yeah, I REALLY like Shinichi x Shiho and Conan x Ai couple aswell! They are so cute together.

**Ai-Chan Haibara-San: **Thanks so much for your review. I'll try and make other chapters better.

All of your reviews actually gave me a big courage to continue this story. Now, on with the next chapter!

Chapter 2 – Success and failure

"So you think she'll find the cure for it?" Gin asked.

"Yes. I'm sure she will. She's clever enough to recognize its effect." He replied. Both of them were in a room with a dim light.

"She'll refuse again."

He chuckled. "Then we'll just have to give her more pain."

"Sir, we have a guest. His code number is 1178." One of his bodyguards came in and reported.

"Let him in." Then he nodded. Gin understood that sign and left the room.

"The organization seems to grow stronger every time," A boy with the code 1178 smirked. "And it's all from the work you and Gin have done."

He shook his head. "You've done well aswell."

1178 laughed. "Then three of us did the hard work." Soon he was serious. "Have you found her yet?"

"Yes, but let's enjoy the show when she struggles out there in the cold world."

"There is a risk." 1178 said. "The one who betrayed the organization might reveal all of our secrets. You know her very well, don't you?"

"That doesn't matter." He smirked and threw a picture frame in the bin. "Because she doesn't know _everything_…"

The broken frame had a picture of a young boy and two small girls. They were all smiling, not knowing what had happened to all three of them in the future.

-

Conan woke up with a yawn. He stretched his arms and reached for his glasses. Then the boy saw his own grown hands.

"Huh?"

Remembering the event that happened last night, he quickly got up and looked himself on the mirror. There wasn't a small boy standing anymore, but a tall teenaged boy named…

"Woohoo! I'm back to myself again!" He shouted loudly. Not bothering to turn off the alarm clock, which had just started to ring, he opened the door and went downstairs.

"Professor, Kudou Shinichi is back!"

"Shinichi?" Professor Agasa opened the door of his room and looked at him. "Welcome back!"

"Yeah, it feels great to be back to who I really am." He grinned. 'All thanks to Haibara.'

The he looked around. "Is Haibara… I mean, Shiho here yet?"

"Maybe she's still sleeping." Professor replied. "It's 4 in the morning."

Shinichi scratched his head. "I guess… I think I'll go to sleep again aswell."

"Alright. See you in the morning, Shinichi."

-

"Send few members to the restaurant. Make sure she doesn't find out the truth." He ordered. 1178 nodded and left the room but saw Gin waiting for him on the corridor.

"This time, it'll work." 1178 said and was about to pass Gin.

"We'll see. He won't be pleased to see her refuse the order again." Gin took out another cigarette and started to smoke.

"If she really does, you can handle her. I see that you've failed to kill her last time." 1178 smiled evilly. "Why did he change his mind all of a sudden? He had asked you to kill Sherry before."

"…" Gin's face was dark but remained silent.

-

Shinichi was lying on his bed, fully awake. He felt like he finally became the person who actually belonged to this world. Conan was just a kid who accidentally stepped into his life for a short time. Shinichi couldn't forget the feeling when he became Conan at first. More than shocking, it was. But now, he have made it thins far. As a detective, he decided to catch the Black Organization and pay for what they have done to him, other innocent people and… to Haibara.

Compared to Haibara, he was nothing. He wasn't forced to be a member of the organization. He didn't have to kill many people. He didn't have to be shot by the organization many times. And his sister didn't die because of the betrayal of the organization. Yet, she was still strong.

After all the pains she received in the past and now, she still lived, not showing a single pain in her face. But he knew he was suffering from the deep bottom of her heart. The detective wanted to be her shelter.

And Ran… He had thought of her so many times, but never told her the truth, about Conan and him. Maybe it was because he didn't wanted her to be involved in the dangerous part. He would never forgive himself if anything happens to her. Although now it was the chance, he decided not to tell Ran just yet.

Kudou Shinichi didn't realize that he was thinking over for more than an hour. Gradually, his eyes were shut and fell asleep and when he opened his eyes, the clock was telling him that it was 8 in the morning.

-

"So, do you have the money?" Gin asked.

"Sir, I'm truly sorry. I'll repay you. Please give me more time…" A man was shaking so badly.

He dropped his cigarette to the ground and stamped on it. Then Gin took out a gun from his pocket. He threw it to 1178 gently.

"He's yours." Gin said to him. Then he walked off to his car.

1178 smirked and did just as he was told.

-

Haibara woke up, but she kept her eyes closed. She felt so much better than yesterday night.

'This time, I'm sure the antidote had worked.' She said to herself to have courage to open her eyes. Haibara even had tested this with plants on the previous week just to make sure. She was about the open her eyes and was ready to see herself as Miyano Shiho.

**_KNOCK KNOCK_**

'Huh?' Haibara looked at the door and then her eyes turned to the computer screen. She gasped.

-

"Professor, Shiho's still not up?" Shinichi went downstairs and saw Prof Agasa reading the news from the Internet.

"No, She might be really tired. You should go and check on her." He smiled.

"Okay." But when Shinichi was about to leave, Prof Agasa said one more thing. "You should thank her you know. She had risked her health to make that antidote."

"What?"

"It's true. Haibara hadn't slept for a month just to make the cure."

"So that's why she wasn't in a good mood these days." Shinichi sighed.

"Don't worry though. Haibara is a strong spirited girl. All she needs is a long rest."

Shinichi went upstairs.

"_It's true. Haibara hadn't slept for a month just to make the cure."_

"_Don't worry though. Haibara is a strong spirited girl. All she needs is a long rest."_

The words that Prof Agasa had said was keep repeating on his head.

_--FLASHBACK_

"Ai Haibara, would you please read the next paragraph."

There was no reply from Haibara.

"Ai-chan, wake up." Ayumi, sitting next to Haibara, whispered while shaking her shoulder.

Haibara slowly opened her eyes and that was when she had realized that she was at school.

"Ai, that was the fifth time you've been sleeping today." Her teacher said looking a bit annoyed.

"I'm sorry, miss." Haibara said in a bored voice.

"You can go and wash your face if you want. That will make you stay awake."

"Miss Tamoki, can I go with her?" It was a young boy with glasses.

"Yes, Conan you may. But remember to come back as soon as possible."

The two of them were walking towards the toilet.

"You're not sleeping enough at night, are you? You know, even if you're bored with all that childish lessons, you should stay awake. The teachers are working hard to teach." Conan said. "Don't ignore them."

"Why don't you try and not to sleep for days and see if _you_ could concentrate during school lessons?" Haibara was irritated.

"I understand how tired you are. Then why don't you go to bed early?"

Haibara narrowed her eyes. "I don't need a famous detective's advice thanks." With that, she went inside the girl's toilet.

---_END OF FALSHBACK_

Shinichi now knew that Haibara was avoiding sleeping to make the antidote. He sighed one more as he stopped in front of the room where Haibara was. Deciding to tell her that he was sorry, Shinichi knocked on the door.

-

Haibara froze. It wasn't because of the knocking, but couldn't speak anything as she saw the computer screen. It was turned off, and that meant the monitor was black. But it wasn't _completely _black, because it was doing the job of a mirror… Yes, it was letting Haibara to look at herself.

Haibara sat there, her mouth opened slightly. But soon, she gave out a big sigh, a sigh of disappointment and shock.

'So, I've failed…'

"Shiho, are you in there?" He called. Shinichi was knocking on the door for at least 5 minutes. "If you're still sleeping, wake up! We're back to our original forms!"

Haibara finally snapped out of her thoughts and heard the knocking with someone's voice. But that voice was…

'Kudou?'

"C'mon, Miyano Shiho! It's morning!" Haibara heard his voice again.

As she heard him saying those words, she was getting frustrated. Conan Edogawa was playing jokes with her. He was pretending that he had turned back to Kudou Shinichi and was making Shinichi's voice with his usual voice-changing machine that Prof Agasa had made for him.

"Shiho!"

He was fooling her with her failure of making the antidote of APTX 4869.

"Are you in there?"

After all the time she had worked for making that antidote. She was sure that this time, it was going to work.

"Are you ill?" This time, Shinichi's voice was full of concern.

That was it. She had enough. 'The fooling game is over. Kudou Shinichi.'

Haibara quickly reached the door and with all of her power, she opened it.

"What do you think you're doing, making fun of m-" Haibara spoke out in a loud voice and soon stopped. Conan Edogawa was supposed to be standing here listening to her, but instead, she was looking at a pair of legs with blue jeans.

At the same time, Kudou Shinichi was surprised as the door swung open in a fast speed. And there should've been a tall girl standing. But all he saw was the inside view of her room.

"Huh?" He blinked.

Haibara slowly lifted her head up to see who the giant was. Shinichi slowly looked down to see who had opened the door so powerfully. Soon, their eyes met.

"AHHHHH!"

-

Professor Agasa was preparing for breakfast when he heard the screams.

"Shinichi! Ai!" He quickly went upstairs.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!" Both of them shouted at the same time.

-End of chapter 2 –

A/N: This is end of chapter 2. It might have been confusing, because I kept changing the scenes and I didn't describe everything well. If you've noticed, two new characters have appeared in this chapter. Their identity will be revealed soon. Thank you so much for reading! Have a lovely summer holiday:)


	3. The first step

Hidden Tears

A/N: Hi and I'm very sorry for the LATE update. So I made this chapter a bit longer than the previous ones. Once again, thanks to all readers and reviewers! The characters may be a bit different from the real manga/anime. I also I apologize for weird names for the new characters. Enjoy!

Chapter 3 – The first step

"So, that's how the girl managed to get out from the gas room." 1178 gave out a bitter laugh after he had scanned the information the boss gave him. "By using what she had made herself. Very clever. Maybe she was planning for this escape from the beginning."

"APTX 4869" Gin took out his cigarette. "Haibara Ai. So, what's the great boss's plan?" He asked in a sarcastic way, exaggerating the word 'great'.

"You've got a plan, Tamoru?" 1178 turned to face the person sitting on the chair behind the desk.

Tamoru didn't answer for a while. Gin smirked and headed towards the door to go out, seeing that his friend wasn't going to say anything.

"Kevet and Gin, we're going out, tonight. Call Vodka and Vermouth to come here _immediately_."

Both 1178 and Gin stared at him. But they knew exactly what he was talking about.

-

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?" It was from a teenaged boy and a small girl's voice.

"Wait a minute, you didn't take the antidote yesterday?" Kudou Shinichi asked in shock.

"Of course I did." Haibara said, now sounding normal like usual. Even though she knew something had gone wrong, she decided to not to worry anyway. It was something she had assumed after the betrayal.

'But at least Kudou isn't still Conan.' She was relieved at the thought of that. Maybe they haven't found out about Shinichi yet. Or maybe this whole thing was her imagination…

There was a pause, and then the sound of footsteps became louder. Dr Agasa has just came up and hurried towards them though the hallway.

"Something wrong?" He asked, still catching up his breath. Both Shinichi and Haibara looked at him hopelessly until Shinichi spoke up. "Not really. Haibara had taken the wrong made antidote for some strange reason."

Dr Agasa raised his eyebrows. "So that's why Ai's still a kid?"

"That is one possibility," She said and smirked. "And the other could be the organization stopping me from getting the antidote. Besides, it'll be much easier for them to catch me while I'm still a weak useless child." The girl couldn't help but to say this.

But before Shinichi was about to argue with that statement, she quickly said, "I'm off to breakfast."

-

The three of them went downstairs.

"Shinichi, would you mind preparing breakfast? I've got some news to read on the Internet."

"Sure" Feeling great once again for being back to his real body, he headed towards the kitchen. But he couldn't think of the reason why Haibara couldn't go back to Miyano Shiho.

'She didn't take that antidote on purpose? No, Haibara is not kind of a person who lies. Or maybe one of the antidote was a mistaken one?'

"_And the other could be the organization stopping me from getting the antidote. Besides, it'll be much easier for them to catch me while I'm still a weak useless child."_

Even when he was waiting for the toast to come out from the toaster, he was busy trying to forget about what she had said.

"You're burning the bacon and the egg you know." Haibara came in after few minutes when Shinichi had something else on his mind.

"Oh, right."

But before he could grab the handle of the pan, Haibara stood on a small stool and grabbed it first. Silence surrounded the two once more, while Haibara did the rest of the preparation.

"Did they also teach you how to cook?" He asked her before he could even stop himself.

"They don't like people with no skills."

"SHINICHI, AI! Come and see this!" Dr Agasa called them from the living room. The two of them ran to the place where he was.

"What is it?" Asked Shinichi, looking alarmed.

"Another murder. It happened last night." Agasa replied in a serious tone. "Listen to this: _Today, on the 15th July, a murdered body was found on the front gate of a primary school, lying with his back on the floor. One of the teachers had found it while arriving there. _How terrible is that? The police couldn't even find his name. They say that he was killed around 3 to 4 am…"

"Look professor, there's more," Shinichi scrolled down the page to find more information.

"_A piece of paper was under the left arm of the man who was killed. Another fingerprint except this man was found on it and the police are sure that it belongs to the murderer…_ It looks like the murderer has left a message."

"What does it say?" Haibara concentrated closely at the screen.

"It was-" He paused and read while raising his eyebrows. "_11.8, 746 is Hace_?"

"What kind of message is that?" The girl seemed like she was thinking hard. "They don't sound like anything at all."

"It must be some kind of a code." Shinichi stormed out of the living room with his bag.

"Where are you going?" Haibara came up to him, as he was about to open the door. "Don't you know that-"

"It's dangerous to go out?" He finished the sentence. "Yeah, I do. But I'm going to the place where the man was murdered. I'll return as soon as I can."

And he left, leaving Haibara to stare at the place where he just stood now, her mouth opened slightly. Is this what you call a difference between a detective and a normal person? Even he knows the organization looking for him, he still goes out?

'What is he thinking? Maybe I shouldn't have made the antidote after all.'

-

Shinichi knew where he was going. It was Conan's current school that the article was talking about.

Without noticing how warm and fine the summer morning was, he quickly hurried down the street.

'11.8, 746 is Hace…' He couldn't think of anything now. When he arrived at the Teitan Elementary School, he found many police cars waiting there. There were young students, who looked frightened and were about to cry, standing in the far corner, accompanied by detective Satou and detective Takagi.

"Shot by a gun." Inspector Megure said while writing things down on the notepad. He was looking very serious. "A murder in front of an elementary school?"

"Maybe the murderer hated school." Kogorou suggested. The Inspector looked at him. 'Let's be serious Kogorou."

"No, it must be related to the message." Shinichi said while examining the body.

"Kudou Shinichi? How-how come you're here?" Kogorou shouted.

"I came back from the last case." He said standing up and now facing him. Kogorou didn't looked pleased.

"Ah, Shinichi. Since you're here, I guess we have nothing to worry about." Inspector Megure's face brightened as he said this. Shinichi grinned but soon he came to normal.

"Have you found anything else?"

"Only one message." Megure said. "It was-"

"11.8, 746 is Hace" The teenaged boy finished his sentence.

"How did you know?"

"I read it on the Internet." He replied. "Have you got the paper?"

"We have" Kogorou held a plastic bag with the paper in it.

Shinichi looked at it closely. It was written in black ink pen, and the writing was quite messy. It was hard to read because the paper was wet and the letters were all smudged.

"Which pen does this pen belongs to?"

"We couldn't find a pen like that. Maybe it's from a foreign country."

"Hmm…" The young detective looked around the ground. Since it rained last night, it was very challenging for the detective to find a clue.

"It'll take some time to find the clue. The ground is full of mud." Inspector Megure finally concluded after two hours of searching.

"Okay, I'll come back tomorrow." Shinichi then headed to Agasa's house again.

-

"What happened this time?" Ran asked her dad as he came inside the house and sat on the sofa.

"Another murder, but a nasty one. We haven't found anything except a stupid message. Even that Kudou boy couldn't find-"

"You mean, SHINICHI?" She questioned him hurriedly.

Kogorou nodded while taking a bite of a sandwich Ran has just made. "He was there." He answered in an annoyed voice.

"I'll be back before dinner." She was busy collecting her purse and grabbed the door handle.

"Wait, don't tell me you're going to see hi-" But before he could finish his sentence, with a loud bang Ran was out.

-

Shinichi entered the house with a deep sigh.

"So, found nothing?" Haibara came down from the stairs with a smirk. She knew what she had said was going to be true just by hearing him sigh.

"Yeah. And the condition of the weather was bad too. By the way, where's Agasa?"

"He's off to the meeting about his inventions." The girl yawned as she said this.

"Oh, right. Hey, what do you want to have for lunch? It's 1pm already."

"Anything."

"Come on, there must be something that you'd want to eat right now."

"Just anything that tastes nice."

"Noodles?"

"We had that yesterday at the restaurant."

"Then, rice balls?" Haibara nodded. "Are you sure you know how to cook? You didn't seem to be good at it this morning."

"Of course I do. I live alone, so I'll have to be able to prepare food myself of I'll starve to death." He grinned and went to the kitchen. "You can wait in the living room."

She blinked but did as she was told. The brunette sat on the sofa and turned on the TV, a faint smile appearing on her face.

It was few minutes after that when the doorbell rang. Haibara got up and walked towards the door. She couldn't help but to stare at the guest who was standing in front of her as she opened it.

"Haibara?"

"Hello." She simply said showing no emotion.

"Haibara, who is it-?" Shinichi came out from the kitchen but soon stopped. "R-ran?"

-

"I'll stay behind. She knows my face too well to not to be recognized." Gin said. The three of them were now in a science lab. About hundreds of scientists were working there.

Tamoru quietly walked towards the shelf where several different kinds of tablets were placed in a large jar. One of them had the label of 'APTX 4869'. "You may do whatever you want to, Gin."

-

"Shinichi…" Ran smiled. "Nice to see you again." She wanted to hug him, but decided to not to do it anyway. It was strange. Conan left her yesterday and Shinichi came back the very next day? It happened a couple of times. She DID see Conan and Shinichi being in the same place once , but it still disturbed her a little. Ran quickly rubbed that weird thought out of her mind. 'What am I thinking… Shinichi and Conan _are different_.'

"Same here." The boy grinned. 'She's not being hyper like usual? She should've been mad at me for not telling her that I'm back.'

Silence…

"Why don't you two go and have lunch together?" It was the small girl who broke the silence.

She slowly walked to the kitchen. "Like a date or something."

When the two teens heard the word 'date', both started to blush.

"Ran, why don't we eat here? I'm gonna make some rice balls."

Ran looked surprised and her eyes widened. "You can cook?"

'Why is everyone asking me the same question?'

"It's just a rice ball. It's easy to make."

"Uh… okay."

"I'll go and tell Haibara." Haibara was already in the kitchen, so he went to her.

"Kudou, take Ran for a date _now_." Haibara demanded when he got there. Shinichi was taken aback.

"Can't we just have lunch here-?"

"It's been a long time for Ran to meet Kudou Shinichi. You turned back to Conan during the date last time, remember? So you should spend some time with her since you won't turn back to a little kid this time. My antidote is now perfectly safe."

'Except the one that I had…' She thought.

Haibara explained but looking bored. "Besides, I won't have to taste your rice balls then."

"But-"

"What's going on in here?" Ran also came into the kitchen looking confused.

"He decided to take you to a restaurant." Haibara simply answered opening the refrigerator to find something to eat.

"Wha-?" Shinichi was about to say something but didn't when he saw Haibara glared at him.

-

Shinichi and Ran arrived at the same restaurant they went last night.

"It has been a long time since you've been here, isn't it?" The girl asked him brightly.

"I've been here yester-" Then he remembered that it was Conan who went to Apple Tree Restaurant last night.

"Yeah, I've been dying to come here again." He quickly changed his answer and laughed nervously.

"C'mon!" Ran graded his arm and went inside.

-

"-And what would you like for a drink?" The waitress asked after the two finished their steak.

"One orange juice and hot chocolate please." Shinichi replied.

"You're having hot chocolate in this weather?" Ran looked surprised and asked him when the waitress had left.

"Yeah, I think I've got a cold." But that wasn't his real reason. The boy did a fake cough to make her believe him. Soon, the waitress came back with one glass and a white cup.

"You two look like a sweet couple." The waitress smiled while handing it out.

Ran smiled and blushed at the same time. "We're not a coupl-"

"Huh?" Shinichi said out loud.

"What is it?"

"N-nothing." But his eyes still focused on the hot chocolate. 'I knew something was wrong.'

"Excuse me, miss. But who made the hot chocolate last night?"

The waitress blinked. "Is there any problem with the drink, sir?"

"Shinichi, what are you saying?"

"No, it's fine. But can I check the kitchen?" He got up. The people sitting near them were now focusing on Shinichi.

"Um… sir, we're not allowing our guest to go in there. Unless you're a police or a detective."

"Kudou Shinichi is my name. I'm a detective."

"Huh? You mean you're the young detective that everyone was talking about?" The waitress looked very interested.

Shinichi nodded. "So can I check the kitchen?"

"Sure. Follow me."

"Shinichi, what's going on in here?" Ran whispered to him while heading to the kitchen.

'And how did you know that someone had a hot chocolate last night? It's rare to have a hot drink in the summer… But Haibara had a cold so I ordered it for her…' She asked him in her mind.

"I'll explain it to you, later."

This was going to be the first step towards the solution.

END OF CHAPTER 3

A/N: That was the third chapter! I hope it wasn't too boring… I'll leave it to the readers to figure out the code. It's '11.8, 746 is Hace.' (It really took me a long time to make this message. But it's nothing interesting… ;-;) If I give you a first hint, each number 746 stands for a beginning letter of three different words. And '746 is Hace' makes one sentence. I'll give you more hints on the following chapters!

Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
